THE HILL | The Alabama A&M University men's basketball suffered a setback on Saturday afternoon, dropping a 68-64 decision to Bethune-Cookman during Senior Day in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game at the AAMU Event Center.
Alabama A&M (9-18 overall, 5-9 SWAC) went more than eight minutes without a field goal in the second half as Bethune-Cookman built an 11-point lead. The Wildcats nearly surrendered the lead as AAMU had two looks at a potential game-winning 3-pointer, but couldn't get it to fall.
AC Bryant paced the Bulldogs by scoring 13 of his 15 points in first half, and added five rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Daniel Rouzan scored all 19 of his points in the first half, with seven rebounds, three assists and one block. Kalil Camara recorded 18 points, four boards, two blocks and one assist, while Trey Thomas chipped in 12 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Bethune-Cookman (12-15, 9-5) raced out to a 10-2 lead to begin the game, capped by a Rouzan jumper, with 17:27 remaining in the first half.
Alabama A&M answered with a 14-2 run as Bryant's triple gave the Bulldogs a 16-12 advantage with 12:29 left.
The game remained close until the Wildcats took a 33-29 lead after a pair of free throws by Ward with 1:30 left in the half. However, AAMU closed the margin to 33-32 after a three-point play by Bryant with 51 seconds remaining.
Both teams traded buckets over the final 50 seconds by a layup by Rouzan as time expired gave BCU a 37-35 advantage at the break.
The Wildcats opened the second half with back-to-back treys by Camara and Thomas as BCU pushed the margin to 43-35 just 44 seconds into the period.
Both teams went cold from the field, going more than four minutes before Thomas scored on a layup, giving Bethune-Cookman a 47-39 advantage with just over 13 minutes to play.
Alabama A&M went more than eight minutes without a bucket from the floor before a
Darius Ford long jumper snapped the spell and closed the BCU lead to 54-45 with 9:08 remaining.
Buckets by
Dylan Mclean and
Chad Moodie, along with a free throw by
Saliou Seye, cut the deficit to 57-52 with 4:29 remaining.
Bethune-Cookman ended a four-minute cold spell as Camara drained a triple from the left corner, extending the Wildcats advantage to 60-52 with 3:15 left.
Alabama A&M tried to rally from a double-digit deficit during the final minutes as Seye and
Bilal Abdur-Rahman scored on layups and
Jaylen Colon drained a 3-pointer, closing the margin to 64-59 with 46 seconds remaining.
Mclean scored five straight points during a 10-second stretch as the Bulldogs trailed 66-64 with 24.9 seconds left.
After a turnover, AAMU had two looks at a 3-pointer as Colon and
Warren Yeh hit the back iron and Bethune-Cookman sealed the game at the foul with 2.5 seconds remaining.
GAME NOTES
- Alabama A&M shot 33.8 percent (23-of-68) and 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from the free-throw line
- The Bulldogs grabbed 33 rebounds, including 14 on the offensive glass
- AC Bryant paced the Bulldogs by scoring 13 of his 15 points in first half, and added five rebounds, three assists and one steal
- Alabama A&M finished with 36 bench points, 28 points in the paint, 21 points off 23 BCU turnovers, seven fastbreak points and four second-chance points
- Bethune-Cookman went 24-of-52 shooting (46.2 percent) and 15-of-23 (65.2 percent) from the charity stripe
- The Wildcats grabbed 44 rebounds, with 32 coming off the defensive glass
- Daniel Rouzan scored all 19 of his points in the first half, with seven rebounds, three assists and one block
- Kalil Camara recorded 18 points, four boards, two blocks and one assist
- Trey Thomas chipped in 12 points
- Bethune-Cookman finished with 32 points in the paint, 11 points off 14 AAMU turnovers, 10 second-chance points, nine bench points and eight fastbreak points
UP NEXT
Alabama A&M closes out its home campaign on Monday during Mardi Gras Madness as the Bulldogs play host to Florida A&M. Tip-off against the Rattlers is scheduled for 7 p.m. from the AAMU Event Center and streamed on Bulldogs All-Access.
For complete coverage of Alabama A&M Athletics, check out the official homepage at www.aamusports.com. Remember to follow us on social media: Instagram (@aamuathletics), Facebook (aamubulldogathletics), Twitter (@_aamuathletics) and TikTok (aamuathletics).
